Florida pols trade shots over Obamacare

By Aaron DeslatteTallahassee Bureau Chief

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott didn't let the opportunity to take a shot at President Obama's disasterous federal health-care roll out, blasting the president's announcement Thursday that insurers could stick with non-compliant individual plans for another year.

“The patchwork changes President Obama announced to his health-care law today amount to nothing more than kicking the can down the road for 300,000 Florida families who are losing the insurance plans the President told them they could keep," Scott said in a statement.

"What happens to these families in a year? Will these families still see their insurance costs go up? President Obama’s changes to his own law will likely be the first of many. It is a bad law.”

The "300,000 families" is a reference to the polices Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida has announced it will close next year, although those affected families will likely be transitioned into new policies through the insurer. Scott, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, and other Republicans have cited the 300,000 figure and suggested those consumers were "losing' their coverage when the company says it is simply closing one of the non-compliant plans and offering them other plans to replace them. Here's a Politifact on the situation.

Regardless, Democrats shot back that Scott was politicizing the problem.

"The Republican governor might want to take caution when accusing others of kicking cans down the road. It could be argued by many working Florida families that it’s been Governor Scott who has been kicking the middle class in the gut by sitting on the sidelines instead of delivering affordable health care to Floridians," House Minority Leader Perry Thurston, D-Plantation, responded in a statement.

"Florida has the second highest rate of uninsured in America with millions of uninsured residents, so I am proud that President Obama continues to take positive action to help Floridians attain the health coverage they deserve and need."